The Abenaki, (Wôbanaki) are an Algonquian-speaking Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, whose ancestral homelands, known by the indigenous people as Ndakinna, one lived in a large territory that stretch across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and southern Quebec. The Abenake were a vital part of the Wabanaki Confederacy, who traditionally practiced a seasonal lifestyle of hunting, fishing, and agriculture.

The word Abenaki was derived from the indigenous people word Wabanaki or Wôbanakiak, which, when translated from the indigenous language into English means the People of the Dawn Land with Wô:ban meaning Dawn (or east) and aki meaning Land

The language of the Abenaki was primarily Algonquian but divided into two separate dialects, the Eastern Abenaki language and the Western Abenaki language. The eastern dialect was predominantly spoken in Maine, while the western dialect was spoken in Quebec, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

The eastern division of thw Wabanaki Confederacy included: Penobscot, Kennebec, Arosaquntacook and Pigwacket.

The western division of the Wabanaki Confederation included the tribes of the: Arsigantegok, Missisquoi, Cowasuck, Sokoki and Penacook.